International Space Station’s orbit raised by 1.6 km

The next launch of the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft with an international crew onboard to the ISS is scheduled for March 14

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. Specialists of the Russian Mission Control Center have adjusted the International Space Station’s orbit, raising it to the medium altitude of 408.5 km, a spokesman for the Central Research Institute of Machine-Building (TsNIImash) said on Tuesday.

"The orbit adjustment was performed as scheduled. As a result of the maneuver the medium altitude of the space station’s orbit was raised to 408.5 km," the spokesman said.

The research institute earlier told TASS that the ISS’s orbit would be adjusted by 1.6 km to create ballistic conditions for Russian spacecraft’s flight with the help of the engines of the Progress MS-10 cargo spaceship.

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The next launch of the Soyuz MS-12 spacecraft with an international crew onboard to the ISS from the Baikonur spaceport is scheduled for March 14. According to the flight schedule, Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin, and NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Christina Koch will spend 204 days in orbit.

Ovchinin and Hague were expected to arrive at the orbital outpost back in October 2018 but their expedition was foiled by the abortive launch of the Soyuz-FG carrier rocket.

Last time the ISS’s orbit was adjusted on January 18, 2019. The medium altitude of the space station’s orbit was raised by 1.8 km to 407.3 km.